The Kingpin

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                      We'll call this an interlude?

  All of the air Amelia thought she had was knocked from her body at the way the words fell from his mouth. The hand she had placed on the doorknob seemed frozen in time as she willed herself to speak or do something. Anything.

  Rafael made his way down the stairs and stood behind her a ways. His voice was much softer when speaking this time when he said, "I don't expect you to say it back or anything. I just needed you to know."

  She found herself turning to face him at this point but still found comfort in the solid door now behind her. She felt almost lightheaded at being face to face with him after he said something so raw.

  "I just need you to admit to yourself for once that I am someone you care about. And stay."

  Amelia knew that anything she said would ruin it all. Instead of speaking, she took a few hesitant steps toward him and maintained his gaze. His hands reached out to her almost instantly and she took them, allowing herself to be pulled closer to him.

  "So you're not dippin', kid?"

  She pulls him in quickly to press her lips to his and he could swear to anyone that his heart stopped the moment she did it.

  Her soft laugh against his lips draws him out of the daze he had entered.

  "What?" Rafael asks, amusement clear in his voice but it was tinged with an exhaustion she hadn't heard from him before.

  He was so tired of the false sense of having her just for it all to crash and burn. If she were to leave, he would be done for entirely.

  Amelia responded by quickly brushing hair from her face and kissing him once more.

  "Fucking finally." Rafa whispered after they broke away to take a breath.

  "Finally." She repeated, a smile quirking the corners of her lips. Her hand stayed in his as he led them upstairs in a hurry.

  The last words spoken between them for the next few hours were only whispered praises and moans in between. He needed to show her everything in this way. He needed to make sure she'd stay for the long run.